PILCs may have application in the manufacture of electrically-conductive papers. A synthetic hectorite smectite clay (LAPONITE, from Laporte Industries Ltd) is mildly conductive and is used commercially in the manufacture of certain papers, both to pigment the paper and give it conductivity. It is an object of the present invention to increase the electrical conductivity of such clays as LAPONITE, while not losing any of their other properties which give them suitability for their use in papermaking.
In Inorg. Chim. Acta. 1987, 134, at page 99 Mandair and co-workers describe an attempt to increase the conductivity of LAPONITE and a natural montmorillonite by the intercalation of organic molecules. Increase of an order of magnitude in D.C. conductivity were measured.
A method of creating a PILC is disclosed in Inorg. Chem. 1989, 28, 2439-2443 by Petridis, D, and his co-workers. The method involves hydrolysing dimethyltin (IV) chloride and intercalating between the molecular layers of the clay the resulting dimethyltin (IV) cation. Thereafter, tin oxide pillars in the clay are created by heating the intercalated clay with glycerol to more than 200.degree. C.